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Django, unchained again for the comics world

Django Unchained won an Oscar for original screenplay. It’s easier to see why when you see the words on the page, and easier still when those pages are in a comic book.

Vertigo is churning out Django in six comics ($3.99 each; No. 3 is due out in April). The source material is the uncut script. The art is by RM Guera and Jason Latour. Tarantino has been both praised and scorned for his comic book sensibility, and the fit of this particular movie for this particular medium feels natural.

That said, the Django comics are best enjoyed as a self-contained entity. I like the art, especially the white-and-gray retelling of the story of Broomhilda. But reading the first two comics also gave me new appreciation for Tarantino’s words, which lend themselves perfectly to to the little dialogue balloons that fuel the standard comic book narrative.

The sketchbook included in No. 1 points out that “the characters were not to be exact likenesses of the actors playing them,” and sure enough they aren’t. Just as well; it’s impossible to capture the uniquely dangerous charm of Christoph Waltz in any medium besides cinema. Maybe the later numbers will even liven up the film’s baggy final stretch.

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News, reviews, nuggets and tidbits from the world of pop culture, including movies, music, TV, local and national celebrities.